Spanish rookie steals Stenson's thunder

There is to be no sophomore jinx for Gonzalo Fernández Castaño. The European Tour's rookie of the year gained his second career victory yesterday, catching Henrik Stenson on the 16th and beating him on the first extra hole to take the Asian Open.

The win is the second in just 10 months for the 25-year-old Spaniard, who turned professional in 2004. "I played my typical Spanish golf and it worked," said Fernández Castaño, who shot a two-under-par 70 in the final round, carding two crucial birdies and no bogeys at the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club.

Stenson set the pace after the first three rounds, but Fernández Castaño grabbed the lead on the 16th hole of the final round after chipping in from the sand for a birdie. Stenson then made birdie on the 18th to level the scores at seven under 281 and force the play-off. Stenson carded a final round of one under 71.

Colin Montgomerie (68) and Jose-Filipe Lima (71) of Portugal were tied for third at six-under, followed by Mahal Pearce of New Zealand (71) and the Englishmen Simon Dyson (68) and Paul Casey (71). Stenson strung together three birdies starting on the sixth hole and held a commanding three-stroke lead until the ninth, when his second shot ricocheted off a tree, over his head and into the water.

After taking his drop, he needed two more shots to get on to the green, then three-putted for a triple-bogey eight. "A lot of bad things happened at the same time," Stenson said. That wobble left him in a tussle with six other players, with the lead changing hands no less than four times on the back nine.

Stenson regrouped immediately to add another birdie, then bogeyed the 16th to finish at one under for the day. "I felt pretty happy to be in the play-off after everything that happened," said the Swede, who had held a one-stroke lead since the opening round.

The runner-up at last week's China Open in Beijing, Fernández Castaño was frequently wild off the tee but pulled off a clutch of heroic saves. "When I teed off this morning, I just went out to have fun," said the young Spaniard. AP